Azara Blog: Elephants are "ecological engineers"

Areas heavily damaged by elephants are home to more species of amphibians and reptiles than areas where the beasts are excluded, a study has suggested.

US scientists recorded 18 species in high damage areas but just eight species in unaffected habitats.

Elephants are described as "ecological engineers" because they create and maintain ecosystems by physically changing habitats.
...
"What this study point towards is that although things may not look particularly pretty to a human eye does not necessarily mean that it is detrimental to all the life that is there."

All species are pretty much "ecological engineers" because all species "change habitats". Indeed, humans
themselves are "ecological engineers". And in spite of the constant whining from so-called environmentalists
and so-called conservationists, human activity does allow some other species to benefit, e.g. rodents.
But the BBC would never run a story about humans in the same way that they ran this story about elephants,
because BBC journalists believe that humans are evil whereas elephants are wonderful. Indeed, hardly a day
goes by when the BBC does not run a story about "destructive" human practises, at the behest of some so-called
environmental or conservation organisation or other.

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